[underlipton]

The modern fashion industry as we know it has always had black workers and designers, but it was essentially unheard of for a black man to be named the artistic director of a major legacy fashion house. Particularly for businesses that touch the luxury space, much of the last few centuries have involved taking as much as can be taken from non-white, non-male artists and artisans without being forced to give credit or, god forbid, a leadership role. Abloh's ascension to just such a leadership role at Louis Vuitton was objectively a watershed moment.

As you say, "elevation" and appropriation are extremely common practices in fashion in particular, so the (passive-aggressive) ire he inspires in some circles would have to be based on something other than the way he worked. I don't think it was his professional background, either, considering that he had an advanced creative degree (in architecture) and several years of experience building brands independently and interning under established businesses.

Certainly, "elitism" gets closest to describing the true source, but I'll note that there is no fundamental disagreement or mutual exclusivity between that and "racism"; in fact, they often come paired. The latter, as we know, often distorts perception, leading to things like incorrect reads of Abloh's career and work as "not sophisticated," or "not influential," or "not novel or interesting," or as "kinda mid."